Bring Him Home
by Sorida
Summary: AU for TFA Season 2. Sari is upset: her father's missing and it's two days to Christmas. Bee takes it upon himself to find her father and bring him home for Christmas, even at the cost of his life.
1. Chapter 1

_Summary: AU for Season 2: Sari is distressed that she's spending Christmas without her father. Bumblebee, upon seeing her sadness, decides to find Professor Sumdac and bring him home. With a tip from Blackarachnia, Bumblebee discovers that the Decepticons have Sari's dad and stages a rescue mission. He is determined to give his best friend the greatest Christmas present of all time...even at the cost of his life._

_A/N: Ok, so a month ago I was thinking about Christmas. I was in the pit orchestra for a local Christmas show and I started thinking "Gee, did Sari spend Christmas without her dad?" and then this popped into my head. It's definitely AU material, but it can be seen as a slight prequel to the TFA Nintendo DS game. I'm warning you, the story began ruling me and Bee ended up becoming a bit OOC, but it'll be explained a bit more within this chapter and later on in the story. Hope you all had a Merry/Happy Christmas and Happy Chanukah/Happy Holidays to everyone else! Minorities rock! ;D_

* * *

><p>'Twas two nights before Christmas and all through Detroit, buildings smoldered and crumbled and...<p>

"Slag it!"

...scrap the Christmas poem references, things were downright chaotic. People crowded the malls, trying to get their hands on the "perfect" present for their Great-Aunt Matilda or their little son Bobby.

Basically, it's the holiday season where people pepper spray each other for Xboxes and shoot one another for custom MJ sneakers, whatever the hell those are. Meanwhile, the Autobots had their servos full...

"What did I tell you about swearing, kid?" Ratchet shouted over his shoulder, lowering support beams to the ground. Three stories above him, Bumblebee tried his best to weld the framework of a building. By the looks of it, he was failing miserably.

"Well, you'd say the same thing if this fragging beam kept breaking your weld!" Bumblebee snapped back. The cold weather didn't help the process along either. Ratchet (or even Bulkhead Bumblebee mused) had to make careful calculations to figure out where to place every material. They had to take expansion due to warmth into account, a task that would be so much easier if it were summer or even spring.

Suddenly, a metal rod connected with Bee's helm. Looking down, the youngling saw Ratchet's amuse-less scowl. "I warned you." the medic said before focusing on his task. On the far side of the building, Bulkhead was mixing concrete as Prowl and Optimus repaired more of the building's foundation. Soon the sun began to set, prompting the Autobots to call it a day and head back to the plant.

As they drove, Bumblebee shifted uneasily on his wheels. From his battle (aka aft-whipping) with Starscream, his frame still felt sore. It was expected, seeing as it took place a few days ago, but it still hurt. All he wanted to do was sit in the rec. room for a few hours and play Ninja Gladiator.

Upon entering the base, the team transformed and found themselves faceplate-to-face with their human friend, Sari Sumdac. The normally cheerful eight-year-old seemed distraught, small tear tracks running down her face. Optimus Prime kneeled.

"Sari, what's wrong?" Optimus asked in his most caring tone. Curious, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Prowl stood behind their leader as Ratchet walked off to the med-bay. It's not that he didn't care about the girl; he just knew why she was sad and didn't particularly want to stand around as she explained what he already knew.

"Well, today's December 23rd," she started, "And Christmas is coming up soon."

"What's a Christmas?" Prowl asked.

"It sounds kind of painful." Bulkhead commented.

"Christmas is an Earth holiday." Sari explained, "It's a time of gift-giving and eating."

"Oh, that's why the humans were running around the malls like Prowl when his DVR-ed nature documentaries won't play." Bumblebee said. Prowl sent him a harsh glare in return.

"But..." Sari continued, "It's also a time for family. My dad and I spend every Christmas together and...I really miss him." Fresh tears formed in her eyes. "With the holidays here, I just feel so much worse! Why'd he have to go missing now?" She let her tears fall, sobs racking her small body. "I hate being alone."

"Sari, I'm so sorry your dad's not here," Optimus apologized, giving the girl a gentle hug, "But right now, we'll he your family and we'll celebrate this holiday with you. I promise."

"As do I." Prowl said, kneeling next to the Prime.

"I can decorate the base." Bulkhead offered.

"I'm so in! So we all get presents, right?" Bumblebee asked with a smirk. Sari couldn't help but smile up at the Autobots.

"Thanks guys," she said, returning Optimus' hug, "You're the best."

* * *

><p><em>He found himself surrounded by darkness, voices shouting from all directions.<em>

_"What makes you think you can be in the Elite Guard?"_

_"Just quit now while you have the chance. You won't be anything more than a beggar anyway."_

_"I don't understand why you keep trying when you know everything ends in failure for you. Are you determined or just that stupid?"_

_"Where the Pit did you come from, Kaon?"_

_"Does anyone actually like you?"_

_He was in a cave, sneaking around for something. He rounded corner after corner in complete silence, trying to find something without someone discovering his position. After a few more minutes, he found his prize._

_"Professor Sumdac!" he shouted. Slag, that totally gave away his position. Faster than he could process, he was looking at the end of a fusion cannon. He was going to die. He heard one more voice..._

_"You are a failure."_

_...Sari's._

Bumblebee's optics snapped online. His room was pitch black, the sun hours away from rising over the city. For some reason, the dream didn't freak him out or send him into some sort of self-pity party. He simply took it all in; submitting himself to what he believed was the truth. But there was no time to think about the voices, he had to focus on what he saw.

"Sari said Christmas was a time of presents and family," Bumblebee mumbled to himself, rubbing his helm, "I wonder what it's like, having a family. And Sari...I always hate seeing her sad." With a determined look on his faceplate, he said, "I promise, I'll get Sari the best Christmas present ever." So, he concocted his plan in solemn resignation. He had a hunch and he didn't like it.

Well, if his hunch was correct, he knew nobody would miss him for that long. After all, he wasn't a huge loss.

* * *

><p>The snow sparkled in the sunlight, casting nearly unnoticeable rainbows across the room. Prowl stood before his tree, awed by nature's wonder. Without its leaves, the tree looked so fragile, yet it was easily supporting the mass of frozen water strewn across its barren branches. Oh, how fascinating.<p>

As Prowl indulged in his nature stupor, a certain yellow mech began practicing his scouting techniques. Bumblebee slowly crept into the ninja-bot's room, being as silent as possible. It had been a while since he exercised any stealth moves. He could have easily become an Elite Guard scout, but due to his personality and background, it would raise questions he was not willing to answer.

Showing any sign of talent would make others suspicious of his heritage, seeing as he was abandoned shortly after sparking. Others would think that he acquired the skills through stealing energon for survival or he was trained by Decepticons. The truth was, he just had a knack for it. Spying was his niche, but it wasn't something he was passionate about. Thinking about it, Bumblebee's spark sank as he realized how much his team underestimated him.

If given the chance, he could find the Decepticon base and spy on their next plan. The problem was that if he suggested it, Optimus would go into overprotective mode and tell him no without a second thought, which was exactly why Bumblebee was keeping his plan secret. Optimus would try to stop him, Ratchet would call him a rash idiot, Bulkhead would say it was too dangerous and Prowl would give him a disapproving glare. Sari couldn't find out in the first place, it would ruin everything.

Snapping back to the task at hand, Bumblebee crouched behind the black and gold mech. He was about a meter away from the ninja-bot, reasoning that if he could stand there for five kliks and leave without being noticed, he could definitely pull off his self-given mission. Sari would get the best Christmas present ever and then the team would finally realize that he was more than a diversion.

_But you are expendable. Why should they care if you get blown to slag tonight?_

_Shut up_, Bumblebee told the voice. Three kliks had passed and Prowl still hadn't noticed him; so far, so good.

He's going to see you, just like those 'Cons are. You know, maybe you're doing them a favor. If you go off-line tonight, they don't have to worry about the annoying, obnoxious, weak, useless, worthless, Pit-spawned youngling they've had to deal with for solar cycles.

He knew the voice was internal. He knew it was him. Bumblebee just couldn't find the passion to tell it to stick a cog in it. It was all true, so why stop the truth? Before he could wallow in a combination of self-pity and self-loathing, Bumblebee noticed his five kliks were up. Quietly, he slipped back out of the door, hiding himself in the shadows. He almost snickered as he saw Prowl glance around his room for an intruder and saw none. This was perfect.

It was time to put Part 2 into action. Poking his helm into the rec. room, Bumblebee noticed the coast was clear. Optimus had his back to the entrance, focusing on the monitors. As he did with Prowl, the youngling silently exited the base. Transforming far enough away from the plant, he gunned his engine and sped off. It was still fairly early in the morning; he had about twenty four hours to complete the mission. If he failed, he'd leave Detroit because if he failed, it proved that he wasn't needed. It proved himself right and there was nothing he feared more.

Part of Bumblebee's hunch consisted of finding a certain spider-femme. From the brief meeting with her on Halloween, he saw her Decepticon insignia. That is, before falling into stasis due to her venom. He reasoned that he could probably find her in the forest outside of the city. After all, that's where the Space Barnacles landed.

Transforming, Bumblebee walked around the snow-covered ground. If he could find that femme, then maybe he could get some information from her. She was a 'Con after all, she'd probably know something. The problem was getting her to talk. No, he'd never torture another Cybertronian, but perhaps he could give her an incentive.

Bumblebee yelped as he tripped over a large tree root, falling faceplate first into the snow. Looking up, he saw a huge spider web...but no spider. Before he could do anything else, his system filled with pain. He could feel two pincer-like objects impaling his back-plates, the venom working through his frame. As he fell into stasis, Bumblebee noted that the attack lasted slightly longer than last time.

* * *

><p>"Hey Optimus, do you know where Bee went?" Sari asked. Her eyes were red and puffy, clearly she'd been crying.<p>

"He's probably still in his room. I never saw him come into the rec. room this morning." Optimus replied, kneeling down to the young girl's level. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"Actually Boss-bot," Bulkhead started uneasily from the doorway, "I just checked Bee's room. He's not in there, so I thought I could find him in here."

"I knew it." Prowl said from his position in front of the TV. He entered the rec. room about an hour ago, automatically watching one of his nature programs. Turning to the others, he explained, "Earlier this morning, I was in my room. I thought someone was watching me, but I dismissed it as nothing. About six kliks later, I looked around the room and nobody was there."

"Are you implying that Bumblebee snuck out?" Optimus asked.

"I'm implying that Bumblebee may have skills that we have been privy to." Prowl replied.

"I remember back in Boot Camp that some-bot took Bee for a few cycles," Bulkhead said, "Bee told me it was nothing and I dropped it. But now that I think about it, I think he talked to Mirage that day."

"Why would special ops be interested in Bumblebee?" Optimus inquired. This was a little overwhelming to take in. Bumblebee, the youngest and most inexperienced team member, was a scouting genius?

"Perhaps," Prowl started, "Bumblebee has the skills required for a scout, but refused to show anyone due to personal circumstances."

"Maybe you're onto something Prowl," Optimus added, "We don't really know anything about Bumblebee's past. He's never told anyone and we've never really asked."

"Being an excellent spy may lead others to certain conclusions," Prowl reasoned, "Like being raised by Decepticons or actually being sparked a Decepticon."

"Bee's a grounder, it's not possible." Bulkhead said. Prowl shook his helm.

"He could be hiding it. This is exactly why Bumblebee wouldn't tell any bot. There are too many questions and they're probably ones he can't answer."

"Guys!" Sari shouted. The mechs fell silent as the small child continued, "Aren't you forgetting something, my first question? Where is Bumblebee?"

* * *

><p><em>It was dark again, except now it was a cave. There was an eerie green light at the end of the tunnel, calling to him. Silently, he continued his trek, arriving in a large underground chamber. He finally made it.<em>

_"Professor Sumdac," he whispered, sneaking over to the man's prison. He tried to break it, but the strange force field gave him a terrible shock. It took his systems a few seconds to recalibrate and that long to realize that he'd screamed._

_"Goodbye, Autobot." a voice said as he was shot by Megatron's fusion cannon._

Sluggishly, his processor willed his body back online. His frame ached terribly and he felt some weird substance on his back. Something kind of sticky and...

Quickly, Bumblebee on-lined his optics and, upon realizing he was upside-down, he panicked. He tried to lift his servos, but no luck. He was caught in a spider web and no hope of getting down anytime soon. Laughter registered in his audio receptors. Suddenly, a femme filled his view, her twisted smile hovering over his faceplate.

"Well, looks like a fly wandered into my trap." she sneered. Bumblebee fixed a glare on her. "I remember you from last time Autobot; your stingers were nice to 'borrow.' It'll be fun a second time." He felt a sharp point dig into his side, sending electricity through his frame. Biting his glossa, he tried not to give her the satisfaction of hearing him scream. "So tell me youngling," she said, letting a stinger rest in his field of vision, "What brings you here?"

"A deal," Bumblebee mumbled, trying to ignore the energon dripping from his wound.

"What kind of deal?" the spider inquired.

"Sari's key for some information." He replied coolly. The femme regarded him for a moment before continuing.

"And how do I know you're not lying?" she asked.

"How do I know you're not going to lie?" Bee smirked, "See? We both work that way."

"You're a strange Autobot. All the ones I've met have never stooped to…deception." She smiled again, "So, what's your designation kid?"

"Bumblebee."

"Stupid designation." Bee frowned at this.

"I didn't choose it. You have one or should I just continue to call you Spider-Femme?"

"It's Blackarachnia." Well, it was certainly a bit easier than spider-lady. "What information did you want?"

"Where's Megatron's base?" he blurted out.

"Where do you think? Now that Megatron has a new body, he's going to be gathering his strength somewhere far away from you Auto-brats."

"He'd want to conceal his spark signature."

"Wow, you're not as stupid as you look, I'm impressed." Blackarachnia sneered. "Why do you want to find Megatron so badly? You want to die early?"

"He has something that belongs to a friend of mine." Bumblebee replied.

"I see. Well kid, you have your information. Now how about your end of the bargain?"

"Seeing as I'm caught in a web, I can't really give it to you." They locked optics for a minute before Blackarachnia finally started cutting him down. As soon as his pedes touched the ground, he pinned the techno-organic to the ground, stinger under her neck.

"You lying little…" she was cut off as the stinger began to glow bright yellow, electricity crackling around it.

"When you grow up on the streets, you learn some things," Bumblebee explained, "I haven't tried something like this in stellar cycles." His expression became downcast, "And there's a reason. I hate doing this. It makes me remember why nobody wants me and why nobody will ever want me as a friend. So, I hid away, became quieter by getting louder. Why am I telling you this? Anyway, I never had the key with me. You were too easy to deceive, clinging onto blind hope that you could become all Cybertronian again. Yeah, I found out everything from Optimus, he has a knack of talking to himself.

"I found out who you really are," he smiled slightly, "Elita-1, I trust in you as Optimus does. I know you're still an Autobot inside."

"No, I'm a Decepticon now. They're the only ones who would take me in. They don't care about what I am as long as I get the job done." Blackarachnia hissed. This youngling was really starting to piss her off.

"If you were a true Decepticon, I would already be off-line." His words left her silent, stopping all of her resistance. She never realized when the youngling pulled away from her.

"Who are you?" she whispered. This youngling…he sounded like a war youngling. But it wasn't possible, the Great War ended before he could ever be sparked.

"I'm an Autobot. I was abandoned after sparkling-hood and I can remember my Creators. They didn't see the use in me and dumped me in Kaon. I survived, having a bit of special ops programming in me. I know, I can sound old and I don't like it at all. In fact, you could say I'm slightly insane. But that's not for you to worry about. No, nobody worries about me because, well, why should they waste their time?" Bumblebee looked over at the femme, still in shock. He sighed, "Look, when we fight again, this never happened. You don't know who I am and we never had this conversation. Alright?"

"Fine by me, Pit-spawn." Blackarachnia spat at him. He didn't take it to spark; he would have done the same thing.

"I'm sorry," he said before transforming, "and next time, don't hold back. Do your worst, but please, don't kill my friends."

"Why shouldn't I?" Her bravado was back and with a vengeance.

"Because, nobody deserves to die at peacetime." He replied, starting his engine, "I was never going to kill you, I couldn't just as you can't now. Let's call it a Christmas Armistice. Here," The yellow trunk opened, revealing a cube of energon, "I was saving it for later, but you could use it more." The femme made no move to take the cube, so he backed up to her. She didn't shy away from the compact, but merrily gave it a questioning glance.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Blackarachnia asked suspiciously.

"I'm not asking for trust," Bumblebee replied, "I don't want anyone else to suffer today." He waited patiently as she hesitantly took the energon, her expression torn between disgust, gratitude, and bewilderment. As soon as it was in her hands, the trunk snapped closed. "Merry Christmas." he whispered before speeding off into the forest.

Now, he knew where to go. The Decepticons were hiding their spark signatures and, from his last experience in the forest, the mineral deposits within the Sumdac mines would provide that cover. It would take whatever skill he had to sneak in and get the professor out safely. Surviving long enough to get him to safety was a definite part of the plan.

Surviving after the rescue was another matter entirely.


	2. Chapter 2

He'd gone over the plan so many times, yet each outcome was the same. A Decepticon would find him on the way out and then...probably something along the lines of "KABOOM!" Or maybe, he'd get ridiculously lucky and off-line far away from the Decepticon base. Or maybe, he was just being stupid and he didn't deserve the chances he got in life. Maybe he was thinking about it all way too much.

Bumblebee, now back in bi-pedal mode, paced at the foot of the mountain containing the mine opening. The stab wounds from Blackarachnia had stopped leaking energon a while ago, but his systems felt slightly sluggish and his frame still ached to no end. Nevertheless, he pushed those sensations away and continued with the plan.

Right, the plan had to succeed or else more people would suffer. Honestly, he didn't care if he suffered, he could take it. But Sari could not go through any more emotional trauma, not like this. Sari didn't deserve to be without family at a time when family was so important. She needed her dad.

A small spasm of pain flared through his frame, causing him to double over. Something was definitely wrong. His systems didn't like Blackarachnia's venom, but not to this extent. Last time, his body hadn't reacted this terribly; just a minor twinge of pain for a day and then it was over. But now, his circuits were screaming in agony, begging for a recharge he couldn't give them. No not yet, he needed to complete his mission. After that, he didn't care how long his recharge was. Now, back to business:

The problem with the Decepticon base was figuring out how to start. There were multiple openings into the mountain and if not, that was just shoddy workmanship and planning. Plus, it would totally slag him over. _No, not thinking about something that unlikely,_ Bumblebee thought to himself. With a sigh, he calmed his mind and continued his analysis.

The Decepticons wouldn't be expecting him and Megatron probably wasn't in the mood for any visitors. On the other servo, it was almost better to try something now as opposed to later. Now, the Decepticons were still recovering from the last attack, might as well kick them while they're down. Except in this case, Bumblebee wouldn't be kicking anything or anyone. No, it was just a search and rescue mission that had the possibility of going terribly wrong._ Nope, I'm not thinking about it. Slag, I'm bad at mental pep-talks. _Bumblebee told himself. He had to focus on entering the base before sundown. If he could escape and take off into the night, he'd never stop wondering about how he got so lucky. Of course, he was probably the unluckiest bot in the universe.

Bumblebee shook the thoughts from his mind, concentrating on the base's possible setup. In the other Sumdac mine, there had been a main chamber with multiple tunnels and such branching out from it. The Decepticons were hiding in a mine of similar design (a Sumdac mine), so the first place he'd arrive at would be that chamber.

That would probably be their "lobby" or main control room. Sari's dad was a prisoner, so he'd probably be held somewhere far away from the exits or the hardest point of escape. Still, it meant that he would have to search most of the tunnels within the mine.

Even so, how was he supposed to get there without getting caught? Sure, there were only four Decepticons that might be in the base, but if he was caught…bad things would happen. He could hold his own in a fight, but Megatron and Lugnut would overpower him within minutes. He shrugged; risks had to be taken if he was going to succeed. Right now, that success right was looking pretty low. He'd gone over his plan as many times as possible for an Autobot scout, it was time to take action.

Excitement and fear coursed through his energon lines as he took his first silent step through the entrance. The sunlight faded away behind him, activating his insignia's flashlight function. As he walked further along the shaft, a familiar sight caught his optic. It was impossible, but so very probable. Bumblebee felt the beginnings of dread fill his processor, but willed them away. He prompted himself ahead, curious and frightened.

His optics widened, slowly moving down the shaft. Soon he stopped, still in about halfway away from the base's center. The warm red light of his Autobot insignia switched off, sensing sufficient light a few meters ahead. He could feel his frame inadvertently tense, terror threatening to overcome his processor and force him to turn back without completing his mission. He almost abandoned his mission, but Sari's tear-stained face and sorrowful expression overcame everything. Still, he couldn't help but hesitate.

There it was…that green light from his dreams. Bumblebee gradually let his frame relax, processor now clear enough to plan his next move. In all of his dreams, the green light meant imminent death or becoming mortally wounded. To slip into the area without any possible damage would take hours upon hours of planning. He'd have to work out all the kinks, leave no room for error. It was possible, but it was time consuming. If he were to go in now without a near-flawless plan; he'd surely suffer greatly for his poor judgment. On the other servo, the mission would be done before the team got too worried. Then again, he left without a trace. Prowl was probably trying to solve the "mystery," poking his nasal ridge where it shouldn't be. At least if he was doing that, Bee knew he cared enough about him. No, he wasn't going to think about the team now. He had a decision to make. Returning to the cave entrance to regroup, he stared out at the forest.

The shadows were beginning to elongate as snow began drifting from the light grey clouds. The sun was tinting the sky with color, his time was running out. With a sigh, Bumblebee straightened his posture, a determined grimace set upon his faceplate. He nodded slightly, as if verifying his decision.

He was never known for exercising caution.

* * *

><p>By now it was late afternoon, still December 24th. Downtown Detroit was in a flurry of motion, people running to various shops before Christmas came to town. Last minute shoppers made their purchases, returning home in a hurry to wrap their presents and to spend time with their families.<p>

On the other side of town stood the "abandoned" plant, the base of operations for the local Autobots. Gazing out the window was a certain eight year old girl, sighing as she listened to the banter behind her. It had stopped for a while after the initial revelation, Optimus believing Bee would be back before sundown and the others agreeing to wait it out before they began their next course of action. Prowl still contemplated the facts and mumbled to himself a bit. Bulkhead tried not to worry too much, Bee always knew when to come back. But as the medium-sized star began lighting the skyline of Detroit with brilliant hues of oranges and yellows, Prime went back into "Freak-Out Mode."

"Where could he have gone?" Optimus asked, holding his helm in his servos. "Bumblebee had no reason to leave, unless he's trying to get Christmas presents. But even then, he wouldn't put in this much effort to conceal himself. Even if he went out for a drive, he would have told one of us. It just doesn't add up."

"You already tried searching for his spark signature on the monitor?" Bulkhead asked. Prowl nodded.

"He's gone and he doesn't want to be found," the ninja-bot stated, "but why?" The question was asked more to get the others thinking so they could pick up on his own musings.

"Well, you already suggested some stuff." Bulkhead commented, obviously not identifying Prowl's motives.

"Yes, but I was going off of assumptions and logical reasoning. Sometimes, even those can be proven false." Bulkhead narrowed his optics a bit.

"Says the one who accused Bee of being a 'Con."

"I never said I believed it. It was just a theory I created alongside a much larger list containing various circumstances." Prowl explained. It was best to keep all options and ideas available.

"Well, what makes you think it all has to do with Bee's past? Sure, we know next to nothing about it but that doesn't mean he had it bad. Maybe he came from a big family and didn't get enough attention before. Maybe he's just trying to do something nice."

"Without telling us his whereabouts? Bulkhead, be reasonable-"

"What's going on in here?" Ratchet's voice filled the rec. room. All optics were on him before he received an answer.

"Bumblebee left the base, leaving no trace of where he went or what his intentions are," Prowl supplied. Nobody caught his mumble of, "but I have a theory." Ratchet thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"I have a feeling the kid's doing something stupid." the medic said.

"Well, it doesn't take a genius to deduce that." Prowl said in response. Ratchet nodded slightly before continuing.

"What were you thinking? Maybe the kid wants to be alone or something." the medic suggested.

"No, I dismissed that theory once we discovered he shielded his spark signature, shortly after discovering his absence." Prowl said.

"You don't think he's just taking a drive in the forest?"

"You do realize that we're talking about Bumblebee." Everyone was silent until Ratchet spoke again.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with Sari."

"What does Bee leaving have to do with me?" the girl spoke up, soon becoming quite offended, "Are you saying that he doesn't like me or something?"

"No," Optimus replied, realization dawning on him, "But he doesn't like seeing you sad."

"He never likes seeing any bot sad," Bulkhead added, "no matter who they are."

"That doesn't keep him from annoying the slag out of us." Ratchet grumbled, catching onto what the others were getting at.

"But he doesn't do anything to personally offend us," Prowl said quietly, "Well, minus what he said to Prime a few days ago, but he apologized shortly after that. Perhaps it has something to do with his past, as I mentioned earlier."

"But...what does this have to do with me?" Sari asked, walking over to the Cybertronians.

"He'll do anything to cheer you up," Bulkhead said, "He'd always try to make me feel better when other bots insulted me in Boot Camp."

"Must have to do with trauma from his past or some weird processor glitch," Ratchet reasoned, "It's common enough to be logical. Something bad happened to the kid and he doesn't want others to suffer. Doesn't matter the faction or race, he doesn't like to see suffering and agony. What really caused it is a mystery."

"I'm sad because I'll be spending Christmas without my dad," Sari's eyes widened, "and he's going to try to fix the problem."

"He's going to find your dad and bring him back," Bulkhead said, "but why would he keep it secret from us? He always tells us if he's going somewhere and if he doesn't tell any of you, he'd tell me." He was a bit hurt by Bee's actions. Best friends usually don't keep secrets, but maybe the yellow mech had his reasons. Prowl appeared to understand the circumstances more than he did.

"Because, Bumblebee doesn't want to be stopped." Prowl deduced, "He knows that we'd stop him, but why?"

"Because the slag-head knows it's dangerous," Ratchet grumbled, "Prime would stop him in an instant if there was even a hint of violence or doubt." Optimus frowned a bit.

"I let him fight." the Prime stated. The medic gave him a look, not harsh nor compassionate.

"But to what extent?" Ratchet asked. Optimus tried to speak, but Ratchet continued, "You let him participate during certain battles. While I agree with most of your decisions, there's only one I find unsettling: we use the kid as bait all the slagging time. If something gets a little too threatening, we stick the kid on diversion duty. Now I understand why he looks at us the way he does." Ratchet glanced at every bot in the room before explaining, "Bumblebee feels useless, seeing as we throw him away at every chance we get."

"It's for his own good." Optimus said, trying to convince himself more than Ratchet. "He's still young and I don't want his life to be ruined just because of a chance encounter with the AllSpark and Decepticons."

"It's destroying whatever self-esteem he has left." he stated, "There's our other reason for the secrets: he wants to feel helpful. He wants us to respect him as a soldier and stop judging his abilities. When he gets back, I'll be ready to give him an audio full, but I'll also be ready to give him that respect."

"Ok, so we know he's going to find my dad and he didn't tell any of us because he knew we'd stop him and so he can prove to us that he can do stuff on his own." Sari recapped, "But we don't know where he is...unless he knows where my dad is. Dad disappeared after the last big fight and nobody's seen him since. There's something really wrong with that. I know dad would never leave me alone, especially now, and if he did, he'd never leave for this long without saying anything."

"I think it's safe to assume that the Decepticons have him." Prowl concluded.

"But why?" Bulkhead asked. "And why do you think that?"

"Who else do you think has him: Powell or Meltdown, both of whom we haven't seen for a sufficient amount of time."

"Alright, you win."

"That's not much," Optimus started, "but at least we have something. If the 'Cons have him, they're planning something big. Right now, let's focus on how Bumblebee fits into this."

"As I said, we've been underestimating the kid." Ratchet restated, "He's smarter and stronger than we give him credit for. He probably figured out that the 'Cons have the professor faster than we did talking to one another. With that kind of skill, he could easily be an intelligence or special ops agent."

"And in Boot Camp, Bee talked to a bot in special ops, Mirage." Bulkhead added.

"The kid must have done well on that entry test," Ratchet mumbled mostly to himself, "and he wanted to keep it a secret. If there's one thing Bumblebee's good at, it's running away from his problems."

"How do you know all this?" Sari whispered. Ratchet regarded her for a moment before replying.

"That's Doctor-Patient confidentiality. Also if you've been around as long as I have, it's pretty obvious." Sari nodded before speaking again.

"He's compensating by finding dad. If he figured out who has dad, Bee probably knows where he is."

"Or he's assuming your father's position," Prowl continued, "He knows the risks and the consequences, yet he put whatever plan he has into action without a failsafe."

"What's the failsafe?" Bulkhead inquired, fearing the answer.

"Us," Optimus' voice was barely a whisper, but grew stronger as he pieced it together, "He doesn't want us involved so he can prove something to us, that much I get. But why now and not earlier when we knew Professor Sumdac was missing?"

"It's Christmas." was Sari's answer. The room fell quiet, each processing the situation at hand and how to get their youngling back. As the snow fell gently from the dark grey clouds, their scheming ceased. There was no hope of detecting a spark signature or picking up a comm. signal in this weather. Going out now would prove counterproductive, seeing as the frozen water gained speed and mass. Sari could only look out the plant's exit with tears in her eyes. She got her white Christmas, but her family wasn't complete.

The only things they could do were wait and hope that, by some miracle of Primus, their little youngling came home.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Ok, the story's not done yet…oops. But, I'll try to finish it up as quickly as possible because:_

_I know the rest of the story and have figured it all out._

_It's short to begin with, so I'm guestimating that I have about 2-3 more chapters to go._

_I'm going to make time to finish this. Nothing new seeing as I usually write between 10pm and midnight._


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